


Longing So

by AirgiodSLV



Series: 28 Lotrips AUs Challenge [27]
Category: The Lord of the Rings RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-04-17
Updated: 2006-04-17
Packaged: 2019-07-20 13:04:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16137824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AirgiodSLV/pseuds/AirgiodSLV
Summary: Dom made it the whole twelve blocks to Cock of the Walk without turning back, although the voice in his head was whisperingbad idea, go back, just turn the fuck around, he’ll never know, he’s already forgotten you, it’s not too late, just go home. It was like his body was operating independently, carrying him forward to the club without heeding the very sensible warnings of his brain.





	Longing So

**Author's Note:**

> AU #2, for [](https://bunniewabbit.livejournal.com/profile)[bunniewabbit](https://bunniewabbit.livejournal.com/). A sequel to [Brightly Burning](http://airgiodslv.livejournal.com/251888.html), although it diverges from the RENT/Boheme storyline at this point. Also for [](https://impasto.livejournal.com/profile)[impasto](https://impasto.livejournal.com/). Title taken from the song 'Your Eyes' by Jonathan Larson.

Dom made it the whole twelve blocks to Cock of the Walk without turning back, although the voice in his head was whispering _bad idea, go back, just turn the fuck around, he’ll never know, he’s already forgotten you, it’s not too late, just go home_. It was like his body was operating independently, carrying him forward to the club without heeding the very sensible warnings of his brain.

He hadn’t been outside in months, and part of him was still reeling a little from the shock of it; smog-filled air cold in his lungs, the loud clap-bang sounds of trash can lids dropping and voices yelling in the alleys making him jump. He made it to the club through sheer force of willpower, set on his course with a goal in mind, and that goal was like a siren-song of blue eyes and a wicked smile calling him on to 53rd street.

He almost turned back when faced with the bouncer, a big burly guy with skin so dark it almost made him blend into the shadows, arms crossed over his massive chest as he waited for Dom to come up with the cover charge. Dom fumbled with his wallet, took out eight of the eleven dollars he had left in his wallet, and was waved on through the dingy metal door into the dim lighting of the club.

It was loud inside, and hot; too many bodies pressed together, the smell of sweat from the dancers, the reek of alcohol from the patrons crowded at tables and hanging out near the stage. Dom stared for a moment at the dancer wrapped around the pole in the spotlight, nude except for a green g-string and bent practically double around the pole onstage, but he was too tall, too tan, too muscular. He wasn’t what Dom had come here looking for tonight.

He took a few hesitant steps forward, thinking once more _what am I doing here?_ before he shrugged it off and looked around. The voice was easier to ignore now that he was actually here, now that he’d taken the final step through the door and given up his money to be in this room. He couldn’t buy a drink, but he could look, and he prayed that Elijah was here tonight, because if he wasn’t Dom didn’t think his courage would hold enough to bring him back a second time.

It took him a minute to find the cages, because the lighting up there was even dimmer, blue and murky in shadowed comparison to the white-hot spotlight on the main stage. There were bodies in there, one in each of the twin cages, but he couldn’t make out anything beyond slender writhing silhouettes and the shimmer of glitter in the faint light.

He stood for a moment, frozen in indecision, and was about to head towards the second cage when the lights suddenly snapped on in both cages, the main stage plunging into darkness with the end of the young man’s dance, and Dom found himself staring into Elijah’s ocean-blue eyes.

Elijah didn’t appear to see him, probably blinded by the lights, but that didn’t stop the blush from creeping up Dom’s neck when Elijah licked his lips and dipped, bending backwards with one hand holding the bars of the cage for support as he arched, twisting as one hand slip-slid over his torso in a teasing imitation of a lover’s touch.

He was wearing the same mesh shirt he’d had on at Dom’s, but the trousers were different, something shiny and flexible that stretched over his legs and crotch when he moved. Dom forced his gaping mouth closed, and tried not to act as if Elijah’s slow, suggestive gyrations weren’t making him hard; as if they weren’t doing the same to every other man in the room.

Elijah dropped suddenly, bending at the waist so his body was folded jack-knife with his arse in the air, and this time Dom could have sworn Elijah’s gaze was fixed directly on his as he licked his lips and slowly rolled back up his spine, eyes glittering bright from adrenaline and teasing mischief.

Dom swallowed and shifted, aware that his pants were tight and his current physical situation was probably obvious to anyone who cared to look, but it seemed safe enough; all eyes were locked on Elijah. Men were stuffing bills through the bars now, but Elijah ignored them all, turning and bending again so that they caught a glimpse of his wicked smile between spread legs before he rolled up again and flowed smoothly into the next supple gyration.

One leg kicked high to catch on the roof of the cage, and Elijah smirked as he pressed forward, stretching into a full split with his hand wrapped casually around one of the bars of the cage. Dom couldn’t breathe, his throat felt tight and his chest ached and he _wanted_ , so much that it hurt, but there was no way he could ever have. Elijah must get dozens of offers every night, from guys much better than him, guys who weren’t broke and withdrawn and dying of AIDS.

Elijah held the split and bent slowly forwards, eyes always out to the crowd as his hand skimmed down his thigh and he wrapped himself into a position Dom didn’t think the human body could achieve. He held it for a minute, tantalizingly just out of reach behind the bars, and then the lights cut out and the cage was plunged into darkness.

Dom stood motionless, still staring, but when his eyes adjusted to the lack of light, the cage was empty. Attention had shifted back to the main stage, where the spotlight shone on another beautiful young man too dark-skinned, too dancer-supple, too dark-eyed and different. Another dim-lit form slid into the cage, but it wasn’t Elijah, and Dom was at a loss.

He turned finally to go, with no idea of what more he could do; besides what he _wanted_ to do, because that was out of the question. He felt empty, hollow with need aching somewhere inside him, unable to be touched. This had been a mistake, he thought bitterly. He should have stayed in the fucking loft.

A hand on his shoulder made him jump, and then he was face-to-face with sparkling blue eyes and a pleased grin. “I thought that was you,” Elijah said, still panting and damp with perspiration from his dance. “It’s hard to see, with the lights. You came.”

Dom couldn’t walk away from the delight in Elijah’s voice, and he couldn’t even bring himself to break contact now that Elijah was here, real and in front of him, without bars or a crowd between them. “Yeah,” he finally said thickly, feeling drugged from the light in Elijah’s bright eyes. “I…”

“Not here,” Elijah cut him off, waving a hand in negation. “Come back to the dressing room, it’s quieter there, and there’s less chance of me being groped by some idiot drunk.” He grinned suddenly, and the hand on Dom’s arm slid down to catch his hand and tug him through the crowd.

“I’m not even supposed to be out here yet,” Elijah confided, pulling Dom through a door marked ‘Employees Only’ after a quick nod from the bouncer standing guard. “Management doesn’t like dancers in the crowd, there’s too much chance of a scene. But I couldn’t let you get away, I know you were making a beeline for the door.”

Dom was too startled by the words to respond, caught off-guard by Elijah’s easy chatter and familiarity. Elijah nudged through the second door on the right into a small room covered on one side with mirrors, a few plastic chairs scattered along the length of the wall.

“There’s not much privacy here, but at least we can talk,” Elijah offered more quietly. “My shift doesn’t end for another two hours, but I have fifteen minutes between dances, and if you want…” He blinked slowly, and Dom was hypnotized by the thick spread of his lashes fanning against his cheek. “I can come home with you after.”

Dom looked away so that he wouldn’t have to answer, and distracted himself by looking at the haphazard spread of cosmetics and body glitter on the chipped counter, a vase of wilting daisies and a few white towels rumpled in casual disarray. He was about to look back at Elijah, drawing in breath to turn him down again and break his own heart, when he caught sight of a familiar timer and pill-case.

Warm fingers cupped his jaw and turned his face back around, holding him steady while Elijah read his eyes. Dom tried to glance down, but the guilty-startled flush on his face must have given him away, because Elijah didn’t look confused; only balanced, expression masked.

“Those are mine,” Elijah said quietly, and Dom’s gaze flew back up to lock with Elijah’s, shock closing his throat and choking his words. Elijah regarded him steadily, unflinching, and somehow Dom swam through his disorientation enough to stammer out a reply.

“You?” he finally managed, and he wasn’t sure which was greater; the relief that his greatest obstacle had been removed by such a simple admission, or the creeping terror now that he had no excuses left to give. Elijah’s eyes flickered back and forth, reading him, and then he smiled at whatever he saw.

“You too?” he asked, and Dom managed a nod, stunned into awe now that the world had shifted so drastically. Elijah’s smile widened, and his hand moved a little to cup Dom’s cheek and draw him down for a soft kiss. “I have to dance again soon,” Elijah said softly, his eyes searching Dom’s as he spoke. “Will you be here when I get back?”

It took Dom a moment to come to a final conclusion, but he had really already decided, the moment Elijah looked into his eyes and spoke the words that made him a possibility and no longer forbidden.

“Yes.”


End file.
